Stacked Bar Chart :: SAS(R) BI Dashboard 4.31: User's Guide, Second Edition

Definition

A stacked bar chart consists of a grid and some vertical or horizontal columns (bars) that include subgroups, or stacks, of data. Each column represents quantitative data. Bar charts can contain horizontal or vertical bars that are each subdivided into multiple components. Each of these components shows its relative contribution to the entire bar and the entity as a whole.

Example of a Stacked Bar Chart Indicator

For a sample of the indicator data that was used to create this indicator, see “Sample Data Structure” for this indicator.

Usage Information

Data best suited for	Use a stacked bar chart when each bar (such as a category) can be broken down into smaller components that add up to the entire value of the bar. An example of this is when each bar represents sales for a year and each year is broken down into sales for each quarter. In this example, each bar consists of four subcomponents, each representing sales for a specific quarter.
Not suited for	Stacked bar charts are not as effective when the subcomponents have values that are very similar or close together. The goal with a stacked bar chart is to show the breakdown of an entity. If there is little or no breakdown, a simple bar chart is more appropriate.
Target audience	This indicator type is appropriate for all user audiences. Most people find this indicator type familiar and easy to interpret.
Data aggregation support	This indicator type sums the applicable indicator data.
Range support	Ranges are not supported.
Alert support	Alerts are not supported.
Link support	This indicator type can be used to define a link or as the destination of a link.For more information about defining an indicator with a hyperlink, see Adding Links to Indicators or Other Content.
Interaction support	Data filter support: This indicator type can be used as either a source or target indicator. Interactive highlighting support: This indicator type can be used as either a source or target indicator. For more information, see Adding Interactions between Indicators.
Filter multiple items support	Filtering multiple items is supported.For more information, see Supporting Multiple Selections in a Filtered Data Interaction.

General Settings

The General Settings section provides controls that support the following tasks:

Display Settings

The following display settings are used in the preceding figure. For more information, see “Sample Data Structure” for this indicator.

Display Setting	Selection Used for Figure
X-axis value	Year
Stack group	Product Line
Y-axis value	Sales
X-axis title	<blank> (defaults to Year)
Y-axis title	Set to Revenue Note: The Scale Y axis setting adds the label (millions) to the title.
Scale Y axis	This setting is selected.

You can customize the following display settings for this indicator:

(Required) From the X-axis value list, select the column in your data that you want to use for the X-axis value in the indicator. When you view your indicator data, the columns in the data set are described by the values in the Column Name column. The selections available in the X-axis value list are all of the values in the Column Name column.
(Required) From the Stack group list, select the value that you want to use to define the stacked grouping in the indicator.
(Required) From the Y-axis value list, select the column in your data that you want to use for the Y-axis value in the indicator. When you view your indicator data, the columns in the data set are described by the values in the Column Name column. The selections available in the Y-axis value list are all of the values in the Column Name column.
In the X-axis title field, type the title to use for the X axis in the indicator. If you do not specify a title, the value that you selected from the X-axis value list is used by default. If you do not want a title, type a space in the field. If you select Scale X axis, a measurement label is added to the title.
In the Y-axis title field, type the title to use for the Y axis in the indicator. If you do not specify a title, the value that you selected from the Y-axis value list is used by default. If you do not want a title, type a space in the field. If you select Scale Y axis, a measurement label is added to the title.
Select Scale X axis if you want to scale that axis. When you make this selection, a measurement label is added to the X-axis title if the data is numeric. For example, if the X-axis title is set to Revenue and you select Scale X axis, the X-axis title is displayed as Revenue (millions).
Select Scale Y axis if you want to scale that axis. When you make this selection, a measurement label is added to the Y-axis title if the data is numeric. For example, if the Y-axis title is set to Revenue and you select Scale Y axis, the Y-axis title is displayed as Revenue (millions).
From the X-axis format list, select the format that you want to apply to the data on that axis. If you do not want to specify a format, select (none). When set to (none), the indicator uses the format that is used in the data source.
From the Y-axis format list, select the format that you want to apply to the data on that axis. If you do not want to specify a format, select (none). When set to (none), the indicator uses the format that is used in the data source.
From the X-axis labels list, select the style to apply to the data labels that are used on the X axis. Depending on your labels, one style might be easier to read than others.

Sample Data Structure

To create a stacked bar chart, you must provide two variables (one for the bar and one for the stack) and one measure.

The following data sample is associated with the figure previously shown. Underneath each column heading is its associated display setting.

Year (X-axis value)	Product Line (Stack group)	Sales (Y-axis value)
2008	Children	35,000
2008	Clothes & Shoes	50,500
2008	Outdoors	40,000
2008	Sports	20,000
2009	Children	35,000
2009	Clothes & Shoes	52,500
2009	Outdoors	42,000
2009	Sports	18,5000